The recent development of plasmonics has overcome the optical diffraction limit and fostered the development of several important components including nanolasers, low-operation-power modulators, and high-speed detectors. In particular, the advent of surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) nanolasers has enabled the development of coherent emitters approaching the nanoscale. SPP nanolasers widely adopted metal-insulator-semiconductor structures because the presence of an insulator can prevent large metal loss. However, the insulator is not necessary if permittivity combination of laser structures is properly designed. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a SPP nanolaser with a ZnO nanowire on the as-grown single-crystalline aluminum. The average lasing threshold of this simple structure is 20 MW/cm(2), which is four-times lower than that of structures with additional insulator layers. Furthermore, single-mode laser operation can be sustained at temperatures up to 353 K. Our study represents a major step toward the practical realization of SPP nanolasers.
Keywords: Nanolaser; ZnO; aluminum; nanowire; surface plasmon.